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Gaza Summer Games

05 April 2011

Dear supporters,

The Gaza Summer Games team would like to thank all of you who have given generous donations to support the Games, and the Gaza Marathon fundraiser. The donations received were, however, not enough to cover the expenses of Summer Games, and all our efforts were not enough to get donors to provide more funding.

It is with our deepest regret that the Agency has decided that we are not going to be able to stage Summer Games this year. Instead, funds donated will be used to support our “Special Children Special Needs” initiative, which provides dedicated teams of paediatricians, nurses and counsellors to identify and address medical problems, psycho-social issues and socio-economic challenges of the nearly 13,000 children who fail all six of their subjects at UNRWA schools. Your contribution will therefore directly impact the future of these children and provide them the respect, dignity and needed support for their development as positive, productive citizens of the Gaza Strip.

Thank you again for your generous support to the development and education of the children of Gaza. We look forward to working together with you to ensure the return of Summer Games in Gaza in 2013.

We thank you for your continued support to UNRWA and the refugee community of Gaza.

The Gaza Summer Games team

Watch Summer Games 2011

Background Information

UNRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the UNRWA programme budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. UNRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency’s programme budget. UNRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.4 million Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA across its five fields of operation. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. UNRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.